Not every candidate running for a spot in the White House has millions of dollars to launch his or her campaign.

Tuesday, May 23, 2000

Not every candidate running for a spot in the White House has millions of dollars to launch his or her campaign.

According to Ohioan Joe Schriner, you only need an old van and $13,000 to announce your willingness to run for the highest job in the land.

Schriner is traveling across the country to talk to voters about his platform. He is running a grassroots campaign, with not even a sixteenth of the money his opponents bring to the table.

OK, so Schriner’s candidacy is probably not viable – and we probably don’t want him in the White House anyway – but the fact that he is trying harkens back to a time when politics was a little more community service and a little less self-serving.

It reminds you of a time when politics relied a whole lot more on voter opinion, and the term "lobbyist" didn’t carry so much weight in Washington.

Perhaps today’s politicians could use a lesson from Joe. At least he understands who his bosses are supposed to be – the voters who would be electing him.

Politics has come too far to change, so it is unlikely that there will ever be the chance to go back to a simpler time when speeches meant something.

But wouldn’t it be nice if a little of "Regular Joe" rubbed off on the people in politics in both parties these days?